Mets' Pete Alonso 'shell-shocked that it's over'
Mets first baseman Pete Alonso walks to the dugout after striking out in the eighth inning in Game 6 of the NLCS against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
LOS ANGELES — Two hundred and twenty-six home runs and six years as a face of the franchise later, Pete Alonso is about to embark on the next stage of his career: free agency.
The Mets’ first baseman, perhaps the greatest homegrown slugger in the history of the organization, insisted late Sunday night that he couldn’t quite grasp that. In the immediate aftermath of the end of the season, after his team fell to the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, Alonso described himself as “shell-shocked that it’s over.”
He hadn’t begun to process the possibility that Game 6 might have been his last with the Mets, he said.
“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought that far,” Alonso said. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. But I love this place. This place has been really special. This is all I’ve known. It’s been a blessing and an honor.”
Will he instruct his agent, Scott Boras, to pursue every opportunity with the Mets?
“Honestly, I haven’t really thought of anything that far. I mean, I love this team, this organization. This fan base has treated not just myself but my family so, so well,” Alonso said. “Right now I’m just thinking of, man, I’m just thinking of the group. Obviously, we’ll see what happens. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. But I love New York. I love this team. I love playing in Queens. This group is really special. The memories we’ve created together are just, wow.”
He added: “I want more moments like this.”
At the end of last season, Alonso was as frustrated and disappointed as anybody with the Mets’ dismal showing. He did not enjoy himself. Around the same time, he hired Boras to represent him, a year away from reaching the open market.
And then the unexpected happened: The Mets sneaked into the playoffs on the last day of the 2024 regular season and made it to baseball’s final four. After a just OK regular season — .240 average, .788 OPS plus career lows with 34 homers and 88 RBIs — Alonso was key to their deep October run, most notably with his go-ahead three-run home run in the ninth inning against the Brewers to win their NL Wild Card Series.
“This October has definitely topped it off,” Brandon Nimmo said. “He had unbelievable at-bats, came through in clutch situations and just was vintage Polar Bear Pete. Mets fans will remember that fondly regardless. We’ll see what happens this offseason.”
Nimmo, a fellow Boras client, is a veteran of the free-agency game. He explored his options during the 2022-23 offseason and wound up back with the Mets on an eight-year, $162 million deal.
As Nimmo put it, “When you earn that right, you should go through” the process.
“Pete has done so much for this organization, right from the get-go,” Nimmo said. “He means a lot to the fan base and to this team. We’d love to see him back here, but also going through that process, I understand that it is a business. He will end up doing what’s best for him and his family. He’s earned the right to get to this point. There’s no question about that.”
Mets owner Steve Cohen — who had lots of face time with Boras during the Mets' recent trips to Los Angeles — and president of baseball operations David Stearns will have to decide how many dollars and how many years to offer Alonso, who will turn 30 in December. Alonso, likewise, will have to decide what he most values in addition to the financial piece.
He reiterated Sunday what he has said often during the past year-plus, speaking highly of his time in New York and with the Mets.
“I’m really proud of what I was able to accomplish here,” Alonso said. “I feel like I laid it out there every day. I played my heart out every day. I leave it all out there. No matter what time of year, no matter what day it is, I pride myself on being accountable, being out there and working hard, just doing whatever it takes to win. I don’t know. I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished. I’m really proud of this group.
“This is really special. I’m just really proud of this team. I’m really proud of this organization. Yeah. I’ve loved being a New York Met. I love representing the city of New York. I love representing Queens. This has really been special.”
The Mets selected Alonso in the second round of the draft in 2016. He debuted in the majors on Opening Day 2019.
“Over the past nine years, this is all I’ve known,” he said. “I’ve loved every second of it."
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
